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What's Up, Duck?: A Book of Opposites
A quacktastic springtime read! The stars of the bestselling Duck & Goose and Duck, Duck, Goose return in this board book for preschoolers, this time, to introduce basic opposites.
In this ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book, Goose carries an oh-so-heavy log, while duck easily balances a light-as-a-feather feather. Thistle is one fast bird, but Goose is slooo-w. And when Duck is sound asleep, Goose is wide awake. With a simple text and colorful illustrations–plus the inimitable characters, of course–here’s a wonderful, and humorous, introduction to an important concept.
In this ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book, Goose carries an oh-so-heavy log, while duck easily balances a light-as-a-feather feather. Thistle is one fast bird, but Goose is slooo-w. And when Duck is sound asleep, Goose is wide awake. With a simple text and colorful illustrations–plus the inimitable characters, of course–here’s a wonderful, and humorous, introduction to an important concept.
22 pages, Board Book
First published January 8, 2008
16 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Tad Hills
60 books125 followers“Whenever I picture myself [as a child],” says Tad Hills, “I am doing art. I spent a lot of time on my own making things, drawing, and painting.” Hills was not consciously trying to become an artist, rather his motives were innocent and pure. “I liked making things,” he says.
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
September 5, 2021
This is a very cute book. Simple but clever illustrations that show the difference between back and front, up and down. Fun to read with little kids.
November 15, 2021
Nice board book for very little kids
March 15, 2023
The illustrations are great. But I wish there was a little more to it. Like sentences.
May 9, 2021
What's Up, Duck?: A Book of Opposites by Tad Hills. It was originally published in 2008. This book is for 2-4 year olds. It has been awarded the Notable Children's Book in 2009. This is a children's picture book. This book is just about opposite words. It shows Goose doing one thing (such as looking up) and Duck doing another thing (such as looking down). I gave What's Up, Duck? 5 stars because of its simplicity. This book is incredible for teaching very young kids opposites. The illustrations and colors Tad Hill uses really keeps the young readers/listeners attention. The setting is outdoors, which is appropriate since both animals are outside animals. The use of language is perfect for the age group. There are two bold and black words on each page, which makes it easier for children that cannot read yet to stay intrigued. I believe this book is appealing for young readers because of the perfect use of illustrations, color and language. It's a very easy to read, simple book for children. I think children would think this book is funny because of the facial expressions on each page. This book is good for a pre-school teacher to use to teach opposites.
March 25, 2020
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Adorable book that is a great introduction to opposite pairs. This is a simple book with one opposite pair per page with a cute accompanying illustration. A great book for showing opposites, especially for kids who already know and love Duck and Goose.
Good representative pictures for difficult pairs such as loud/quiet and heavy/light. When reading, it is probably a good idea to incorporate real-world examples of these more sensory opposite pairs as well such as whispering vs. reading loudly.
Very cute conceptual read.
Adorable book that is a great introduction to opposite pairs. This is a simple book with one opposite pair per page with a cute accompanying illustration. A great book for showing opposites, especially for kids who already know and love Duck and Goose.
Good representative pictures for difficult pairs such as loud/quiet and heavy/light. When reading, it is probably a good idea to incorporate real-world examples of these more sensory opposite pairs as well such as whispering vs. reading loudly.
Very cute conceptual read.
September 25, 2017
This book is pretty simple, it is a book about opposites, examples: near, far, loud, quiet. The pictures are a great visual to help go along with the words on the pages. It would be good for students who have a harder time reading, or those just beginning to read. They can go off of the pictures and get to what the words are conveying to the audience.
June 13, 2020
A fun opposites book aimed at little ones, featuring favorite characters from the Duck and Goose series. Very little text (just one word opposites paired on a page) so good for the toddler crowd or preschool/preK/K students learning to recognize words on their own. Good for context clues too, because the pictures are nice and clear depictions of the opposites in question.
January 1, 2022
Simple but helpful book of opposites with cute illustrations that clearly tell the reader what the characters are depicting. I have been wanting an opposites book for my daughter, and this one fits the bill. It also helps that the pages are organized so that one of them is on the led tand the other on the right page. Other books I have looked at had them back to back, which wasn't clear.
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June 13, 2018Besides the wonderful illustrations, this book is perfect for teaching the concept of opposites in the classroom. For gifted or advanced students, they can practice predicting based off the illustrations in the book. There are more books in this series that address counting and teaching the reader about colors.
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June 9, 2020This book teaches the concept of opposites through the story of a duck and a goose. Learning opposites is an important early learning skill and will help children to describe the world around them, facilitating expressive language.
April 13, 2023
I think this book would be perfect for Kindergartners and teaching them about opposites, such as front and back or up and down. It has a beginner level reading and can assist in expanding their vocabulary! The illustrations were also great!
November 14, 2018
Great book of opposites, but a bit short. Perfect for little babies!
March 14, 2019
This is a cute book of Opposites. My son liked the pictures.
August 31, 2021
Who doesn't love opposites? Personally, I think they are very hard to teach but I remember reading this book as a child and loved it so it must've done a great job in teaching me my opposites.
December 28, 2021
Silly Gossie like ducks being all different from each other. The art isn't much but the ducks are surprisingly expressive given their lack of mouths.
A cute take on a common theme.
A cute take on a common theme.
March 16, 2024
We find these books very entertaining. There is no real story which makes book rather simple but for a 1.5-2-5 year old still learning a ton of words and opposites its great for that
June 30, 2025
The twins' preschool did the Opposites unit recently so we are down an opposites rabbit hole at the moment! 😄 A cute book that would work splendidly, even for two year olds, I believe. :)
June 3, 2020
Good
Short book with pretty pictures. It helps little learns to learn to read. It’s an education book that is good for home schoolers or public school.
Short book with pretty pictures. It helps little learns to learn to read. It’s an education book that is good for home schoolers or public school.
February 19, 2017
This is a book with pictures of opposites. I'd have to see a physical book to see if the illustration (which show the contraries) are large enough for a storytime.
July 24, 2013
I LOVE the original Duck and Goose book. The only reason I haven't yet bought it is because it is still a little long and a bit advanced for a two-(and-a-half)-year-old. So when I saw this book on the South Carolina Libraries 100 Picture Books for Preschool Children list, I thought it would make a great little board book to put in my son's Easter basket.
Before I bought the book, I did read some buyer's reviews about it and not all were positive. This is a book about opposites, so it is a concept book. With this, as with all concept books, your can't just read it if you want your toddler to understand it. You have to explain and demonstrate. It isn't difficult. For example, for the near and far concept, I held the book really close to my little boy's face and then moved it way back. He gets it and thinks it's funny. He also really likes the loud and quiet (especially the loud).
Anyway, sometimes you can't just read a book and expect the child to grasp the concept and understand -- how easy would potty-training be then?! Sometimes the reader has to do a little extra work. If you do, this is a great book for toddlers. And I love it almost as much as the original Duck and Goose book.
Before I bought the book, I did read some buyer's reviews about it and not all were positive. This is a book about opposites, so it is a concept book. With this, as with all concept books, your can't just read it if you want your toddler to understand it. You have to explain and demonstrate. It isn't difficult. For example, for the near and far concept, I held the book really close to my little boy's face and then moved it way back. He gets it and thinks it's funny. He also really likes the loud and quiet (especially the loud).
Anyway, sometimes you can't just read a book and expect the child to grasp the concept and understand -- how easy would potty-training be then?! Sometimes the reader has to do a little extra work. If you do, this is a great book for toddlers. And I love it almost as much as the original Duck and Goose book.
November 13, 2012
Reviewed by Me for Kids @ TeensReadToo.com
As a huge fan of Tad Hills and his Duck and Goose characters, WHAT'S UP, DUCK? was an absolute delight!
At only twenty-two sturdy board pages, this is a perfect first reader, but it's also a great book to read with your toddler.
Along with the typical opposites of up, down and slow, fast, there are also my favorites -- clean, dirty and heavy, light.
The illustrations are what make this book a winner, and the absolute perfection of Duck and Goose are not to be missed.
As a huge fan of Tad Hills and his Duck and Goose characters, WHAT'S UP, DUCK? was an absolute delight!
At only twenty-two sturdy board pages, this is a perfect first reader, but it's also a great book to read with your toddler.
Along with the typical opposites of up, down and slow, fast, there are also my favorites -- clean, dirty and heavy, light.
The illustrations are what make this book a winner, and the absolute perfection of Duck and Goose are not to be missed.
February 11, 2015
This board book about opposites is illustrated in the classic Tad Hills style, which means I find it absolutely adorable. The small animals are identifiable and relatable for small children.
There is minimal text. The left spread will say and illustrate one word while the right will say and illustrate its opposite. The minimalist nature of those words combined with the expressiveness and surprising depth of the illustrations allows the reader (and the non-reading viewer) to make up their own story surrounding the images.
There is minimal text. The left spread will say and illustrate one word while the right will say and illustrate its opposite. The minimalist nature of those words combined with the expressiveness and surprising depth of the illustrations allows the reader (and the non-reading viewer) to make up their own story surrounding the images.
August 25, 2011
A nice book of opposites with cute bird characters. Natalie asked to read it a few times by saying "duck book." She knows a few of the opposites pairs already from her Bert and Ernie opposites book, but some of the others were new, which I really liked. The set up was one word per page with the opposite on the facing page. I liked this simple presentations (as opposed to books with multiple opposite pairs on one page or a page spread).
November 28, 2012
Tad Hills' illustrations absolutely raise this book beyond the typical opposites book. There's no story here, although there is plenty of description to work with in the pictures themselves. Duck & Goose demonstrate opposites in pairs on opposing pages.
While the pictures are great for younger toddlers, this is a concept better suited for older toddlers and preschoolers, who might have fun demonstrating some of the opposites themselves!
While the pictures are great for younger toddlers, this is a concept better suited for older toddlers and preschoolers, who might have fun demonstrating some of the opposites themselves!
April 26, 2008
Even though this is a simple concept book, there are quite a few unusual concepts presented, effectively, using a 2-dimensional, silent medium: Loud and Quiet; slow and fast; heavy and light. My favorite pairs due to their perfection in illustrations are front/back, near/far, heavy/light and awake/asleep.
June 21, 2009
What's Up, Duck? illustrates the concept of near and far, slow and fast, and all the standard opposites with evocative illustrations of cartoon ducks, goose, and a bluebird. We owned and enjoyed this book before we found Duck and Goose or Duck, Duck, Goose?. Now that we've read those and gotten to know the characters, this book of opposites is even more fun.
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November 11, 2013What's Up Duck? is a book all about opposites. There is one word per page for example, clean and then the next page says dirty. It is a great book to teach students what opposite means and showing examples of that. This book would be really beneficial for younger students when they are learning about opposites or just learning how to read.
January 15, 2009
For a book of opposites this is fabulous. It is simple there is not too much on the page, nothing to confuse a young child who is looking for the opposite. Tad Hill has a great skill for being able to capture expression in her characters. Birth+
November 3, 2009
My son just turned 2 & he loves this book. There is just one word per page, and it teaches opposites such as front/back, clean/dirty, etc. There are nine pairs of opposites in all. My son's favorite is the clean/dirty page!
November 24, 2010
its so long!!! (lol) literally, there's a word on each page!and there are about 6 pages. lol. well, i guess that is what you should expect out of a pre-school book!! but i absolutly love duck and goose!!! <3333
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews